The dominant accretion process leading to the formation of the terrestrial planets of the Solar System is a subject of intense scientific debate. Two radically different scenarios have been proposed.
Planetesimal
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
The Origin Of Free-floating Objects In The Galaxy
The Milky way Galaxy is brimming with free-floating objects, including stars, planets and planetesimals. For the purpose of this chapter, we define a free-floating object as a solid body that […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
Astronomers Clarify How Organic Macromolecules Are Formed
An international team of researchers led by the University of Bern has used observation-based computer modelling to find an explanation for how macromolecules can form in a short time in […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Ceres, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Mercury, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Building Materials For Water-rich Planets In The Early Solar System
Age data for certain classes of meteorite have made it possible to gain new findings on the origin of small water-rich astronomical bodies in the early solar system. These so-called […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Status Report
The Solar System Could Have Formed in a Low-viscosity Disc: A Dynamical Study From Giant Planet Migration to the Nice Model
In the context of low-viscosity protoplanetary discs (PPDs), the formation scenarios of the Solar System should be revisited. In particular, the Jupiter-Saturn pair has been shown to lock in the […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Binding Energies of Ethanol and Ethylamine on Interstellar Water Ices: Synergy Between Theory and Experiments
Experimental and computational chemistry are two disciplines to conduct research in Astrochemistry, providing essential reference data for both astronomical observations and modeling. These approaches not only mutually support each other, […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report
C/O Ratios And The Formation Of Wide Separation Exoplanets
The gas and solid-state C/O ratios provide context to potentially link the atmospheric composition of planets to that of the natal disk. We provide a synthesis of extant estimates of […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Proxima Centauri, Status Report
Motion of Planetesimals In The Hill Sphere Of The Star Proxima Centauri
The motion of planetesimals initially located in the feeding zone of the planet Proxima Centauri c, at distances of 500 AU from the star to the star’s Hill sphere radius […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report
What Stars Can Form Planets: Planetesimal Formation At Low Metallicity
The exoplanet diversity has been linked to the disc environment in which they form, where the host star metallicity and the formation pathways play a crucial role.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Beta Pictoris, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Webb Telescope Discovers Dusty ‘Cat’s Tail’ In The Beta Pictoris System
Beta Pictoris, a young planetary system located just 63 light-years away, continues to intrigue scientists even after decades of in-depth study.